Stamp.



Y PATENTED APR. 4,1905.

A. G. FLETCHER.

STAMP. APPLICATION FILED FEB. 23. 1905.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

No. 786,745. A y. PATENTBD APR-4,1905;

. A. C. FLETCHER.

STAMP.l

PPVLIQTION FILED FEB. 23, 1905. K

' ZSHEETS-SVHBET v @www for -holding the bodies of the sheets`out of di- "UNITED STATES 'i Patented April 4, 1905.

APATENT. OFFICE.

ADDISON FLTCHER, OF NEV.r YORK, NQY.

STAMP.A

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 786,745, dated April 4, 1905. i l Application filed February 23, 1905. Serial No. 247,026.

To @ZZ whom it may con/cern:

Be it known that I, ADDISON O. FLETCHER, a

citizen of the United States, residing at New York, in ythe county of New York and State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Stamps, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to stamps. I use this title simply. as aconvenient one, as the invention may be used in connection not onlywith stamps, but with substantially similar'articles, such as gummed labels. The invention, however, is of particular advantage in conjunction with postage-starnps in sheets. By it a sheet of stamps embracing the invention can be safely handled without possibility of any ofthe stamps adhering together. A sheet of stamps or any portion thereofl can therefore be safely transmittedl through the mails in lieu of ordinary post-office orders and other ncgotiable papers. The same may be also employed as currency. Y

A sheet of stamps involving my invention has on its back an adhesive surface, combined with which is non-adhesive means attached to such adhesive surface in such a way as to leave a multiplicity of exposed adhesive portions, the latter being situated to be out of direct register with each other when the back' of any one stamp on the sheet is folded against the back of any other stamp thereof. While two stamps can be safely under ordinary conditions folded adhesive surface to adhesive surface without possibility of the same sticking together, either of them can be `applied to a letter or mail-package by wetting or dampening the exposed adhesive portion or portions thereof.` The non-adhesive means` may be of any suitable character.

l In the drawings accompanying and forming a part of thisspeciiication and showing certain simple embodiments of the invention the non-adhesive means consists of a sheet of perforated paper the perforations in which may be of any desired arrangement so long as the perforation of one part of the sheet will not directly register with the perfor-ations of anlother part of the sheet.

Another feature of the invention is a means lseparation of the stamps from the sheet.

may extend in any direction of the sheet and which vwhen the sheets are in pile form or stacked prevent their direct contact, so as to avoid the adherence or sticking together of adjacent sheets.

In the drawings, Figurel is a. rear View of a sheet of stamps involving my invention, the intermediate portion of the sheet being broken away. Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional View, on an enlarged scale, of a portion of the sheet. Fig. 3 is a similar View showing a row of stamps folded upon an adjacent row. Fig. 4 is a face View of one 'of `the stamps from the sheet. Figs. 5 and 6 are rear views of a portion of a sheet, showing modiiied arrangements of perforations. Fig. 7 is a cross-sectional view through a sheet of stamps.

Like characters refer to like parts throughout the different views.

In Fig. l I have shown part of a sheet of postage-stamps or enough of the-sheet to indicate-that it is of the customary form so far as the arrangement of the stamps in the sheet is concerned-that is to say, the sheet involves connected rows of stamps, the rows running both depthwise and transversely and being connected by transverse and depthwise parallel lines of perforations to' facilitate the The rear or back face of the sheet of stamps is provided with some suitable adhesive subtance, which may be dextrin or any other desired material.v

As will be understood from what I have hereinbefore stated, there is attached to the adhesive or back surface of the sheet of connected stamps non-adhesive means, and this may be of any desired character. For example, it may be a very thin sheet of tissue-paper, as 2. The sheet of stamps is denoted by 3. The sheet of stamps and the sheet of tissue-paper are of equal superficial area, so that when attached together their margins will be coincident, or practically so. They may be united by slightly moistening' or dampening the tissue-sheet 2 and then pressing it against the adhesive surface of the stamp-sheet. In this way the two sheets can be permanently united to obtain a composite sheet.

As I have stated, the non-adhesive means associa/ted with the sheet of stamps is of such character that when it is in place there will be presented upon the back surface of the sheet of stamps a multiplicity of exposed adhesive portions. These exposed adhesive portions will be so situated, however, that when the sheet is folded upon itself or when any two stamps thereof are folded upon themselves there will be no possibility of the adhesive portions .of the two folds of the folded sheet or of the two stamps adhering to each other, this vbeing secured by so locating the adhesive portions that they will be out of direct register when the folded relation alluded to is present.

As will be obvious, I do not limit myself to any particular way of securing the result mentioned; but I find in practice that a sheet perforated in certain ways answers my purpose in a satisfactory and inexpensivemanner. I might state at this point that each stamp i (see, for example, Fig. 4) will have on its ,back or rear face one or more exposedA adhesive or gummed portions which by moistening the same can be utilized to apply such stamp to a mail-package.

In Fig. 1 the tissue-sheet is perforated, each perforation being denoted by 5. The perforations are arranged in groups, each group being composed of a series of small perforations and a number of large perforations. It will be seen upon reference to said tigu re that the groups are arranged in rows both depthwise and transversely of the composite sheet and that in both cases the groups alternate, so that it will not be possible for any one perforation in any one row of stamps, either depthwise or transversely of the sheet, to directly register with another perforation on another row of stamps. The same statement applies when any two stamps in the sheet are arranged back to back. Should there be a direct registration of the perforations, two opposing gummed surfaces might unite with each other. By arranging the perforations, however, in the manner indicated there will when rows of stamps or stamps are folded upon eachother be a portion of the tissuesheet extending across, either wholly or partially, a perforation, so as to avoid the stieking together of the stamps. By the arrangement specified there is also provision when a sheet is folded upon itself or the stamps in a sheet are folded upon each other for the thorough circulation of air between the folds, which further guards against the sticking together of the folds.

In Fig. 2 I have shown, upon an enlarged scale, two rows of stamps, or the showing may be simply two stamps, while in Fig. 3 I have shown the two rowsor single stamps folded teem-5 upon each other. In the latter figure it will be seen that the perforations of one fold of the tissue-sheet are directly out of register with the perforations of the adjacent fold. There will be presented, therefore, between the folded stamps two thicknesses of tissue, which further aid in holding the gunnned surfaces ont of contact. By forming perforations in the tissue-sheet 2 I leave upon the back surface of the stamp-sheet a multiplicity of exposed gummed portions. Each stamp will here on its back a number of these exposed adhesive portions, so that when the stamp is moist-cned to apply toa letter it will firmly stick to the latter. Sonie of the perforations are intersected by the dividing-lines between the rows o f stamps, as clearly indicated i-n Fig. l, so that the marginal portion of each stamp will present separated exposed gummed portions which when dampened assure the marginal portion of the stamp sticking to a postal package-that is, there will be no tendency of the stamp when applied to curl at its edges.

I may, as indicated in Fig. 7,form upon opposite surfaces ofthe sheet of stamps ridges, as 6. These ridges may extendeither depthwise or transversely of the sheet of stamps, and they are formed in the composite sheet-- that is, after the tissue-sheet 2 is applied to the stamp-sheet 3. rIhe ridges coincide with the perforated dividing -lnes between the rows of stamps. In Fig. 7, which is part of a sheet of stamps, l1 show thereupon four ridges, two being upon the front face of the sheet, while the other two are Iupon the rear face thereof. These ridges may be formed in any desirable way,and as they are located at the junction between adjacent rows of stamps their formation will not mutilate the faces of the stamps, but will elfoctually prevent the sheets of stamps fromsticking toeach other when such sheets are in pile order. The ridges are quite shallow, but in practice are suliieient to prevent sticking contact of the djacent sheets.

In Fig. 5 1 show aniodiiicd form of perforated tissue or protective sheet, the same rbeing denoted by 2 and all the perforations therein by 5". lheperforations inthe sheet 2 are arranged in groups and take the form of elongated slots. rl`he elongated slots are surrounded by circular perforations, the latl ter being intersected by the perforated dividing-lines between the rows of stamps both depthwiseand transversely of the sheet. rlhe circular perforations in the :'i-lternating rows are of staggered disposition, so that when one row of stamps is folded upon another the perforations or partsof perforations along the edge thereof will not coincide .with the perforationsalong the adjacent edge of the other row. The circular perforations, however, which are intersected by the dividinglines between the rows of stamps .provide on IlO the marginal portion of each stamp exposed gumrned surfaces,so as to assure that the edges of the stamps will stick down. v rlhe groups of elongated perforations or slots in Fig. are arranged in alternating order-that is, the slots on one stamp will extend in one direction, while those of thenext stamp, either. laterally or depthwise of the same, will eX- tendin a transverse direction to the first-mentioned slots, so that when one stamp is folded upon another none of the slotswill directly register, while the intervening double layers of tissue-sheet 2 prevent positively the adherence of the exposed gummed surfaces.

In Fig. 6 another modification is illustrated, the perforations being arranged in groups, *one group including one or more elongated slots and circular perforations, while the adjacent group will consist sinfply of circular perforations. The sheet of tissue in said Fig. 6 is denoted by 2", while all the perforations therein are designated by 5b. By virtue of the disposition of the perforations 51 it will be evident that when two stamps are placed back to back the exposed gummed surfaces l-will-not directly register.

It will be understood that Fig. 7 represents a cross -section of either of the composite sheets illustrated in part by Figs. 1, 5, and 6. The parallel ridges may be formed simply by wheels of proper formation rolling against the sheets.

Having thus -described my invention, what'- l claim isl. Asheet of connected rows of stamps,hav ing an adhesive surface on its back, combined with non-adhesive means attached to the said adhesive surface to partially cover the adhesive surface and leave a multiplicity of eX- yposed adhesive portions, the latter being situated to be out of direct registration with each other when the back of any one stamp on the sheet is folded against the back of any other stamp. v I

2. A sheet of connected rows of stamps, having an adhesive surface on its back, combined with non-adhesive means attached to the said adhesive surface to partially cover the adhesive surface and leave a multiplicity of eX- posed adhesive portions, the latter being situated to be out of direct register with each other when the back of any one stamp on the sheet is folded against the back of -any other stamp, and certain of the adhesive portions being in'tersected by the dividing-lines between the rows of stamps.

3. Asheet of'connected rows of stamps,hav ing an adhesive surface on its back, combined with a non-adhesive tissue-sheet attached to the said adhesive surface, the said tissue-sheet having a multiplicity of perforations to eX- pose portions of the adhesive surface, the perforationsl being -situated to be out of direct register with each other when the back of any one stamp of the sheet is folded against the back of any other stamp.

t. Asheet of connected rows of stan1ps,l1aving an adhesive surface on its back, combined with a non-adhesive tissue-sheet attached to the said adhesive surface and having a multiplicity of perforations to expose portions of the adhesive surface, the perforations being situated outof direct register with each other when the back of any one stamp on the sheet is folded against the back of any other stamp, and certain of theperforations being intersected by the dividing lines between the stamps.

5. A sheet of connected rows of stamps,hav-

ing a ridge coextensive therewith and coincident with the dividing-line between two adjacent rows of stamp' 6. Asheet of connected rows of stamps, having ridges on its opposite faces, in parallelism and each coinciding with the dividing-line between two adjacent rows of stamps.

7. `A sheet of connected'rows of stamps,having an adhesive surface on its baclncombined with non-adhesive means attached to the said adhesive surface to partially cover the adhesive surface and leave a multiplicityT of exposed adhesive portions, the latter being out of direct register with each other when the back of one stamp on the sheet is folded against the back of any other stamp, and said sheet having parallel ridges on its opposite faces, each coinciding with the dividing-line between two adjacent rows of stamps.

In testimony whereof 1 have hereunto set `my hand in presence of two subscribing wit- DGSSGS.

ADDISON C. FLETCHER.

` Witnesses:

HEATH SUTHERLAND, Guo. \W. REA.

IOO 

